Improvement in metal-punching machines



A. WATKINS.

METAL PUNCHING-MACHINE. No.185,991. Patented Jan. 2,1877.

W .wym fiw UNITED STATES PATENT Qrrroie ARTHUR WATKINS, OF PITTSBURG,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND THOMAS G. AINSGOUGH, OF SAMEPLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN METAL -PUNCHING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 185,991, dated January2, 1877; application filed April 28, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR WATKINS, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Compound Screw- Pnnch; and 1 do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l is an elevation of my improved punch.Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same, and Fig. 3 is areduced sectional view of the plain brackets through which thescrew-punch passes.

My invention relates to that class of apparatus known as compound screwpunch, used for punching boiler-plates and similar articles.

By my method of construction but one portion of the machine is liable towear, said portion being the'screw-nut hereinafter described, which iseasily replaced.

I will now proceed to describe my invention, so as to enable others toconstruct and use the same.

A indicates the frame, which may be of the usual construction, or of theform shown in the drawing, having brackets B B, through which pass thescrew 0, and also the diebracket B. The guides or openings through whichthe screw passes are made smooth, devoid of thread, and of a diameterjust sufficient for the easy passage of the screw. 0 indicates thescrew, the greater portion of its length of the usual construction, butsupplied with a feather, c, which enters a recess in the upper bracket,so as to prevent the screw from turning. The lower bracket may also beprovided with a recess, and a feather may be placed on the lower portionof the screw for the same purpose; or the feather may be on the innerside of the guides and the recess upon the screw. In any case, as theprevention of the revolution of the screw is to be attained, somesufficient means must be provided.

D represents a screw-nut, circular in form, cogged upon its outersurface, and supported upon the intermediate bracket B. The thread onthe inner side of this screw-nut corresponds with the screw, and is themeans by which the same is raised or lowered. D indicates a pinion, theend of the shaft 61 thereof being stepped on the bracket B", the piniongearing with the cog-nut D. The punch is of the usual form, shouldered,and secured to the screw by a spindle passing through the center of thesame.

The bracket B serves as a support for the screw-nut and pinion by whichthe screw is operated, forms an additional guide for the screw-nut, andis extended down ward for such a distance as will just leave sufficientspace between the lower side of the bracket and the die for theintroduction of the material to be punched, so as to cause the punch, inrising, to free itself from the metal.

The operation of my machine is as follows: Power, being communicatedthrough shaft D and pinion D to the screw-nut D, causes said nut torevolve. The thread thereon, acting on the thread of the screw 0 on theprinciple of an incline or wedge, forces down said screw in a verticalline, the screw being prevented from rotating or turning by the feather0 and recess, as above specified.

The advantages gained by the above construction are as follows: First,the frame or guides being plain, there is no liability to wear, such asoccurs where they are threaded. The screw will not be liable to vibrate,and the punch can never strike and injure the die or be injured itself;nor can the screw be so spread by the collar of the punch that it willnot rise, there being no corresponding thread in the guides to resistits upward movement. The peculiar method of gearing enables me to obtaingreat power at little expense of labor, and to operate the punch in amuch smaller space than has been heretofore required, as, by means ofthe intermediate gearing, a two-foot leverage will give as much power ashas heretofore been obtained from a lever three times that length.

All the wear of this machine is upon the screw-nut, which is of bestcast-steel, and. easily replaced.

Having thus described my invention, I In testimony whereof I, the saidAmnmi claim- WATKINS, have hereunto set my hand.

The combination, with the frame A, brackets B B, and. intermediatebracket B", of the ARTHUR WATKINS.

splined screw-punch, the die, the cogged nut, Witnesses:

and. the pinion, all arranged and operating W. N. PAXTON, I

substantially as described. JAMES I. KAY.

